The legal construction hypothec and notice of contract in Quebec

In Quebec, the legal construction hypothec protects people who worked on a building or supplied materials or services for it. It exists without registration for 30 days after the work is completed. To keep it, a notice must be registered and served on the owner within that window, and action must follow within six months. A subcontractor must first give the owner written notice of its contract.

Who is entitled to a legal construction hypothec

Article 2726 of the Civil Code of Québec sets the list. The hypothec exists only in favour of the architect, engineer, supplier of materials, workman, contractor or subcontractor. It covers work requested by the owner of the immovable, or materials and services supplied or prepared for that work. Quebec's version is close to what other provinces call a construction lien, but the rules and deadlines are its own.

The hypothec can only charge the building where the work was done. And it does not need to be published to exist: at the start, you have nothing to do for it to arise. The deadlines matter when you want to keep it.

Article 2728 states what it secures: the increase in value given to the immovable by the work, materials or services. That is not automatically the amount on your invoice. If the two differ, raise it with your lawyer before anything is registered.

Written notice of the contract: the step for subcontractors and suppliers

Not everyone is protected the same way. Those who did not contract directly with the owner, such as a subcontractor working for a general contractor or a supplier selling materials to the contractor, are covered only for the work, materials or services supplied after written notice of their contract to the owner (art. 2728). Practitioners often call this the denunciation of the contract. A workman does not have to give notice.

The practical consequence is simple. The notice goes out at the beginning, before your first day on site or your first delivery. A subcontractor who gives notice at the end of the job secures next to nothing of the work already done.

The Code calls for a written notice to the owner. Keep proof that the owner received it. Ask your lawyer or notary to confirm what the notice should say and how to send it; a template found online does not replace that check.

For the general contractor, a notice received by the owner is not a threat. It is information: the owner now knows who is working on the property and will want to be sure those people get paid.

The 30-day deadline after the work is completed

Article 2727 sets the framework. The hypothec subsists, even if it has not been published, for 30 days after the work is completed. To preserve it, a notice describing the charged immovable and indicating the amount of the claim must be registered before those 30 days expire, in the Quebec land register. The notice must also be served on the owner.

The completion date

Everything runs from this date, and it is not always easy to pin down. Don't assume the work is completed on your own last day on site; depending on the facts, the two may not match. Have your lawyer confirm the date as the job winds down, not after.

Registration and service

The Code requires both. A notice that is registered but never served on the owner does not meet the condition in article 2727. Service follows the rules of the Code of Civil Procedure; in practice, a lawyer, a notary or a bailiff handles it.

Extinction after six months

Even when properly registered, the hypothec does not last. It is extinguished six months after the work is completed, unless the creditor publishes an action against the owner or registers a prior notice of the exercise of a hypothecary right (art. 2727).

Both deadlines start from the same date: 30 days to register and serve, six months to act. In between, there is time to negotiate a payment, but the clock keeps running while you talk. A verbal arrangement that drags on does not stop any deadline.

Acquittances and withholding: the owner's and the general contractor's side

Article 2123 gives the client a tool. At the time of payment, the client may withhold from the contract price an amount sufficient to pay the workmen and the other people who may enforce a legal hypothec and who have given notice of their contract, for the work performed or materials and services supplied after that notice.

The withholding is valid until the contractor gives the client an acquittance of those claims. The client cannot withhold if the contractor furnishes sufficient security for them.

Put simply, a notice received by the owner changes how money moves. The owner has every reason to ask for acquittances (often called releases) before releasing a payment, and the general contractor has every reason to collect them from subcontractors and suppliers before closing a job. Without them, the owner can withhold and the contractor waits for its money.

This article 2123 withholding is not the contractual holdback, often set at 10% in private contracts. That one comes from the contract, not from a statute that imposes it on private work. Both can apply to the same invoice. The holdbacks guide explains the difference and the prompt payment rules for public contracts.

A sample timeline with made-up dates

Fictional example: a painting subcontractor works for a general contractor on an owner's commercial building. The dates only show the order of the steps.

Work out the exact deadlines with your lawyer or notary. And nobody gains by waiting until the last day: a notice drafted in a rush is hard to fix.

Mistakes that can cost you the hypothec

A few situations where a protection that could have held is at risk. None of them is hard to avoid if you think about it in time.

• Giving notice late. A subcontractor who waits for a payment problem before giving notice only covers what comes after. Work already done stays exposed.
• Counting 30 days from the wrong date. Your own last day on site is not necessarily when the work was completed.
• Registering without serving. Article 2727 requires both registration of the notice and service on the owner.
• Letting six months slip by while negotiating. Ongoing talks do not suspend extinction.
• Paying without an acquittance. An owner who pays the contractor in full despite a notice received gives up the withholding article 2123 allows.
• Claiming an amount you cannot support. The hypothec secures the increase in value given to the building. An inflated amount invites a challenge.

What OKTO PSA does, and what it doesn't

First, to be clear: OKTO PSA for construction does not prepare notices of contract and does not register hypothecs. Those documents remain your lawyer's or notary's work. The software handles two things that keep you from missing a date or closing a job too early.

A reminder 30 days after the work is completed

Each job has a deadline reminder set 30 days after the work is completed. The delay is adjustable: if you want a heads-up sooner so you have time to call your lawyer, move it earlier. The reminder decides nothing for you. It only keeps you from finding out too late that the date has passed.

Subcontractor acquittances required before closing

For each subcontractor, you list the documents you require, such as an acquittance. OKTO PSA tracks what has been received and what is missing. As long as a required document is missing, the project cannot be closed. If you require the electrical subcontractor's acquittance, the job does not close without it.

On the supplier side, purchase orders, receipts and supplier invoices keep a record of what was ordered and received on each job, which helps when dates have to be found again. To see all the job site tools, go to OKTO PSA for construction or open the interactive demo.

This guide is not legal advice. It summarizes articles of the Civil Code of Québec as we read them on October 27, 2026. Legal hypothec deadlines are unforgiving: for a specific job, talk to a lawyer or a notary before the 30 days are up.

Sources: Civil Code of Québec, arts. 2123, 2726, 2727 and 2728 (LégisQuébec), checked on October 27, 2026.